Oklahoma City man suing state agency over license plate supporting gay community

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OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma City man is taking his fight over a personalized license plate to court.

Dr. John Keefe II is now suing the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

Keefe wants to show his support for the LGBT community on the back of his car.

In December, he applied for a personalized license plate that reads, 'LGBTALY,' or LGBT ally.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission sent him a denial letter, saying the plate carries a sexual connotation, which is against agency rules.

“It’s not sexual, it's about who people are as human beings,” Keefe said.

Keefe is a heterosexual man with a wife and kids, but he feels there’s too much discrimination against the gay community in Oklahoma.

He already has a hearing set at the Oklahoma Tax Commission next month, but in the lawsuit he filed Monday, he alleges the OTC is violating the Open Records Act.

In March, he asked for a list of all approved specialized license plates the OTC has granted and all specialized license plate applications the commission has denied.

“I would say this is a lot bigger than just being about a simple license plate, this is about the equal protection under the United States Constitution, this is about the freedom of speech,” Keefe said.

Keefe’s attorney, Charles L. Broadway, says the term LGBT has evolved into something much more than sexual.